Burial-case



F. O. GOPP.

.BURIAL CASE.

(No Model.)

No. 289,643. Patented Dec. 4, 1883.

To all whom it may concern citizen of the United States, residing atEnard, E, which extends the whole depth of the top it is secured to theadjoining end piece, B,

UNrTEn STATES PATE T OFFICE.

FRANCIS O. G OFF, OF ENGLEWOOD, ILLINOIS.

BURIAL- CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,643, dated December4, 1883.

Application filed April 30,1883. (No model.)

Be it known that I, FRANCIS C. .GOFF, a

glewood, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented acertain new anduseful Improvement in Burial- Cases, which is fully setforth in the following specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in whicl1 Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinalsection of a burial-case having my improvement. Fig. 2 is across-sectionof the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view of one end of the same. Fig. 4. is adetailed and enlarged section on the line X X in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is adetailed and enlarged plan view of one corner of the adjustableplatform. Fig. 6 is a section. on the line 3 y in Fig. 5, showingthe-standard and its brace. in elevation. Fig. 7 is a detailed andenlarged plan view of one corner of the burial-case, showing amodification of the locking device.' Fig. 8 is a section 011 the line 10w in Fig. 7.

The same letters denote the same parts in all the figures.

My invention relates to burial-cases; and it consists in a burial-caseprovided with an adj ustable platform on which the corpse is to rest,the object being to provide for more conveniently laying out andincasing the corpse and for more satisfactorily viewing it than ispossible with any burial-case now in use.

In the drawings, A denotes the side pieces, B the end pieces, and O thebottom, of a coffin or burial-case, all of which may be of any ordinaryconstruction. In addition to these, I provide the case with a separateplatform, D, of suitable dimensions to rest on the bottom 0 and therefit easily within the side pieces, so as to be readily lifted andlowered again. It is somewhat shorter than the bottom, so as to admit ofshifting a little way back and forth. It has four apertures, (I, onenear each corner. Througheach aperturepassesanuprightstandcase, and isfastened to the fixed bottom 0 by a screw, E, or other suitable means.At the by a brace, F. This brace is made adjustable to differentlengths, so as to be available for different sizes and forms ofburial-cases, by making it in two pieces, f and f, the piece f having alongitudinal slot, and the two being fastened together by a set-screw, fwhich passes through the slot at any point of its length and through anaperture in the piece f. By these means each standard is firmly securednear one corner of the burial-case. The:-

apertures d are somewhat larger than the diameter of the standards E,and the relative arrangement of the apertures and standards is such thatwhen the standards at one end of the burial-case are in'contact eachwith that side of its aperture which is nearest to the correspondingend-piece those at the opposite end will be each in contact with thatside of its aperture whichis-farthest from corresponding end piece, sothat the platform can be shifted a little back and forth with referenceto the whole set of standards. Each standard has a series of notches, e,cut in it from top to bottom, the notches on all the standards facingthe same end of the burial-case, and those on any one standard beinglevel with the corresponding notches on all the others. Each notchslopes downward and inward.

Across each of the apertures d and below the upper surface of theplatform a stop-pin, G, is arranged in a direction trans-verse to theburial-case, dividing the aperture unequally, so that the greater parthas room for the whole standard, the pins in all the apertures beingtoward the same end of the case as the notches on the standards E. Neareach corner of the platform D a suitable handle, H, is attached to itsupper surface. Obviously, by moving the platform toward that end of thecase to which the notches of the standards look, the platform mayberaised or lowered through the whole depth of the burial-case by means ofthe handles H; and at any height where the stoppins G are oppositeeither of the notches on their respective standards, it may be securelylocked by moving it toward the other end of the case, the stop-pinspassing into the notches, and being held there securely by reason of theinward and downward slope of the notches. The platform may be disengagedfrom the standards again by lifting it a little and then moving itlengthwise, so as to clear the notches,

sponding brace, F, at the top of the standard, and a little wider thanthe brace, so that the platform can be, lifted completely out of thecase and returned to its place again.

Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings illustrate a modification by which thestop-pins G are dispensed with and the handles H are made to take theirplace. For this purpose the handles are arranged so that each,preferably, (though not necessarily,) by an extension, h, of its upperbar, intersects in a certain position the series of notches on thecorresponding standard, so that by bringing thehandles into thisposition, when the platform has been brought to the desiredlevel, thehandles themselves, or their extensions h, will slip into the notches,and will support the platform therein in the same way as the stop-pins.If the handles are pivoted on the platform, there will be no need ofmaking the apertures cl any larger than is necessary to allow theplatform to move freely up and down on the standards, and the notches onthe standards can be made to face each other, which will allow of asymmetrical arrangement of the handles. The construction firstdescribed, however, is the one which I prefer, inasmuch as the pivotedhandles, with their necessary bearings, are con siderably more expensivethan stop-pins and rigid handles, which latter will answer every purposein connection with the pins. Moreover, the operation of, locking andunlocking with the stop-pins is more convenient than with the pivotedhandles, and when the stoppins are used the handles can be arranged in Ithe position where they will be most conven ient for lifting and leastin the way without reference to the position of the standards.

By means of the adjustable platform I am enabled to vary the depth ofthe burial-case after the corpse has been placed in it, and that withoutdisturbing in the least the position of the corpse. The viewing of thebody is thus greatly facilitated, and the improvement is of specialvalue when a corpse is to lie in state. Moreover, by taking the platformout of the burial-case altogether, the corpse can be laid out on it, andthe platform can then be placed in the burial-case without touching thecorpse, and thereby the difficult and often distressing work of incasingthe body in the ordinary way is avoided.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a burial-case, an independent interior platform for the support ofthe corpse, in combination with mechanism whereby said platform may beheld and supported at different heights from the bottom of the case,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The exterior case, in combination with the independent platform 'D,the notched standards E, the stop-pins G, and the handles H, allconstructed and operating substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

inns. F. WAGNER, THOMAS H. PEASE.

